


Five Good Deeds Gene Never Admitted To

by collatorsden_archivist



Category: Ashes to Ashes, Life on Mars & Related Fandoms, Life on Mars (UK)
Genre: Fluff, G - White Cortina, Time Period: 1973-1981 (Life on Mars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-06
Updated: 2008-04-06
Packaged: 2019-01-20 19:58:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12440517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collatorsden_archivist/pseuds/collatorsden_archivist
Summary: As the title suggests.





	Five Good Deeds Gene Never Admitted To

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Janni, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [the Collators' Den](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Collators%27_Den), which was moved to the AO3 to ensure access and longevity for the fanworks. I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in October 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [the Collators' Den collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/collatorsden/profile).

  
Author's notes: Written in response to a challenge from Neuralclone for the "Five Things" meme on LJ.  


* * *

1.) The invention of nicotine patches.

 

 

It was bound to happen _someday_.

 

 

Despite the fact he and the Cortina went everywhere together, Gene Hunt was bound to get caught in the rain one day. He wouldn't have been in the right country if he hadn't.

 

 

Still, when the skies finally opened up and poured down upon his head, he of course didn't happen to have anything on him to use for deflection besides his coat. Trouble was, pulling it up over his head and shoulders meant his trousers were more exposed---and with them, his precious packet of Silk Cut. 

 

 

Later that afternoon, when he'd mostly managed to dry off again, Gene briefly wondered why it was he hadn't had the urge for a fag since earlier that morning. He felt his forehead anxiously, trying to see if he had a fever. No such luck. 

 

 

He dug out his packet of Silk Cut, just to hold it for a moment in his hands. 

 

 

It was then he realised it had been soaked through, and a quick removal and sniff of his trousers (behind his closed office door, of course) confirmed his suspicions as they now positively reeked of the sweetish smell of tobacco. His pants also had a brownish stain to them, and not because he'd been sloppy with the bog roll. 

 

 

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. Gene filed this information away for later use as he pulled his trousers back on. He still preferred the physical act of smoking, but he couldn't be certain this information might not come in useful one day.

 

 

2.) Chris Skelton realising his true career calling.

 

 

As will happen, one day Gene and the rest of CID were down the pub for quite a late night playing darts. And as will also happen, after a few too many amongst good friends, Gene let slip his discovery about the absorption of nicotine through the skin. Only he didn't call it "nicotine," and he also ascribed the story to "some bloke he met in a pub awhile back" rather than taking credit for himself. He didn't, after all, want to be seen as the sort of bloke that got stuck out in the rain---wouldn't be good for his authority, after all. 

 

 

Some time back, Chris had, for once, learnt his lesson rather quickly. He no longer sought to overdo on these sorts of nights out, because he knew how sick he would be later on. He was no teetotaller; he managed to get pleasantly tipsy and silly, but he no longer ended up blacking out, crawling on the floor, and passing out in puddles of his own vomit. Inwardly, he was quite proud of this achievement.

 

 

So when Gene told his story, Chris was in his own head enough to absorb it and file it away for later use. Had anyone been watching closely, they might have noticed that the cogs turning in Chris' head were very nearly visible.

 

 

It was then Chris decided he wanted to take some more classes in his spare time. Gene encouraged him, and Ray didn't say anything against it, which was rather nice. 

 

 

Soon Chris was discovering a knack for science and chemistry in particular that he'd never realised he had. His usual clumsiness and awkwardness seemed to fade away, and a newfound confidence would instead take their place whenever he was in a lab and doing experiments. More than that, he felt at _peace_ \---something he'd never done before that point.

 

 

Some years later, Chris finally unravelled the truth behind Gene's story, and successfully patented the world's first nicotine patch. Meanwhile, a new position had been created just for him, heading up a newly-outfitted and very advanced forensics lab that worked closely with his former colleagues in CID.

 

 

3.) Keeping a close eye on Sukey's well-being

 

 

While he may not always have been exactly forthcoming with his missus, neither was he the sort of man who ran off to the streets for his action.

 

 

Still, he wouldn't have been much of a copper if he didn't keep a close watch on what was going on in his town, on his streets. 

 

 

Some of these girls, he hadn't much sympathy for. Still, he'd vowed to protect his city and its citizens, and while he might privately have thought of prostitution as a scummy business, deep down he knew there were far worse things. 

 

 

Grudgingly, over the time he'd known her, he'd come to develop a sort of respect and even affection for the one called Sukey. 

 

 

He hadn't taken backhanders in ages. Not with Tyler around. 

 

 

But there wasn't anything wrong with providing a little protection in exchange for choice tidbits of information fed him by a woman of questionable profession, was there? 

 

 

Gene didn't think so. Fact was, he'd almost come to look on Sukey like a wayward little sister. Unlike his wayward little brother, she was someone he might be able to save. 

 

 

4.) Coaching a youth football team for less fortunate kids

 

 

Gene took special care to work in a small park in Morecambe, where he was reasonably sure he wouldn't meet up with anyone he knew. He'd only been doing it for the past two months, one weekend a month---it was all the time he could afford. 

 

 

The second time he'd gone there, he thought he'd seen the flick of a leather jacket darting out of view behind a group of trees, but when he looked, he could find no-one. 

 

 

The last person he'd want to know about this was Tyler, oddly enough. He'd sooner have died than admit Tyler was right about him.

 

 

5.) Nicking Britt Ecklund's handbag

 

 

It surely hadn't gotten into that theatre for Ray to find by accident.

 

 

For all Ray liked to talk of his worldly ways with women, Gene had known the man long enough to know he went on pitiful few dates. 

 

 

He considered this a "morale-booster." 

 

 

Both for Ray and for himself. He'd snuck a nice, neat little note into her handbag when he'd grabbed it, with which he was certain she'd be quite intrigued at some point yet-to-be-determined.


End file.
